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manager. I love my fun job as a 'sample lady' at the
Costco store in Auburn Hills (if you shop there look
me up). I would like to connect with my 'partners
in crime' from the dorm, Barb Jones Connor '74,
susAN ALvErsoN and Judy NEFF
dEyouNgHE,
if anyone knows what they are up
to!" In January, MAry sEvErs sPEIsEr
retired after working at Lansing Community
College for 20 years. "Here's a visual for you –
have you seen the Geico commercial with the little
pink pig going down the zipline, kicking its little
feet and saying 'whee!'? That's me. I realized that
this is the first time since I was a teenager that I've
had plenty of time to think my thoughts and hang
around with friends. Adult life is SO serious. And I
am SO ready to play – I hardly know where to
start!" sHoWEy writes: "After a quick look
through the catechism at a Madrigal concert at
Christ Church, I came back to the Episcopal way of
worship; I am active at St Mary's in the Hills
Church in Orion. Also getting back to beginnings,
this fall I gave a clothing and textiles lecture to an
historical society. With a few local awards/
successes under my belt, I am putting together an
art portfolio and accepting projects as they come
my way. Try offshoring that, Corporate America! I
march in the Detroit Thanksgiving Day Parade, as
well as help repair those huge paper Mache heads.
Thanks to still living near Cranbrook and having
attended college with krIsTINA sCHWENsEN,
I had the privilege of saying a few words about her
at an annual Alumni Memorial Service." LAurA
MCLANE FoX
and her two daughters live in
Shaker Heights, OH, with numerous pets. We are
so sorry to hear she lost her husband in 2010. She
is a geriatric nurse practitioner for Evercare, which
is part of United Health Group, and enjoys
gardening, jogging, playing with her kids and travel.
Like many others, MErA JETToN koHLEr is
trying to adjust to the empty nest. Both her
daughters are at Colgate: Tess, a freshman; Hallie,
a junior majoring in Studio Art, who spent last
semester studying abroad in Florence. The family
spent Christmas vacation touring Florence,
Nurnberg and Prague. "I have thoroughly enjoyed
living in Traverse City these past 18 years,
volunteering at school and our figure skating club.
My family has a cottage on Torch Lake, always
near and dear to my heart. It's good that LAurA
MCvEy BurkE
lives nearby." In a "mid-lift shift
with kids all gone," LIdIA Boyduy
dEvoNsHIrE
bought a vineyard in British
Columbia that may double as a ski lodge. "Mostly
Pinot Blanc vines from Germany, that are older
than my kids, and a small cottage on the Naramata
Bench overlooking Lake Okanagan, about an hour
north of Washington state border. Will let you
know if I ever produce a wine, right now just
selling grapes to winery next door. Come visit!"
BAT-sHEvA NIvy LErNEr writes from Israel
that she is doing well and still loves living there.
She will try and return for our 40th. LAurIE
ProCk MorgAN
promises to be home for the
40th! She and husband, Dana, are about six months
into a three to five year assign ment in Shanghai,
China. "G'day" from MArNIE oLIvEr LIPA: "I
guess not everyone realizes that I call Australia
home. Bob, my two daughters, Elizabeth, 25, and
Katherine, 22, and I moved in 1994 for what was
to be a two to six year assign ment. We have taken
out citizenship and are true CanAussies! About 10
years ago the girls' school asked me to manage
their uniform shop. It has been a great job; not
the career I thought I would have but then, life is
a bit like that! My mum and brother, Scott Oliver
'77, live in San Antonio, so I try and get back
once a year. I am doing my best to make sure I
make the reunion, would love to see everyone and
shed a few happy tears!" Artist
CATHErINE
"CooP" CooPEr kAsMEr
resides in
Montana. She has dabbled in a variety of media
ever since she can remember. In addition to
making jewelry, she has designed and sold
needlepoint canvasses and quilts. She was also a
professional custom painter, specializing in faux
finishes. In her former life she was a classroom
teacher and occasionally feels compelled to tutor a
few students on the side. dr. MArgArET
WIddIFIELd IZuTsu
"lives in Austin, TX,
without spouse for the time being, while I wrap up
a pilot project adapting Japanese memorial
customs for use in the States. My husband is a
custom picture framer in Lexington, MA. Our
grown son runs a cafe and deli in New Hampshire
where the presidential hopefuls often stump:
Ellie's Cafe & Deli in New London, NH. These
days, I am at work on a book entitled Making the
World Safe for Sorrow: How Japanese Ritual Can
Change Our Approach to Grief. I am also polishing
a new, interactive Web site: theritesource.org
makes it possible to create groups to memorialize a
loved one on an ongoing basis and use a calendar of
sensibly-paced occasions to recalibrate socially and
emotionally according to Japanese custom."
Identifying herself as a "Proud Aardvark,"
sArArH BEAr-uP NEAL resides with husband,
Rod, and two large dogs on 38.6 acres located
about eight miles east of Sleeping Bear Dunes
National Lakeshore. "We are grateful to have been
able to make a life here for the last 23 years. I'm
also grateful for the wonderful work I'm able to do,
employed (year-'round) by a local yarn shop for
almost a decade. My summers are also spent
working as docent and publicist for Lake Street
Studios, a complex of galleries and art activities in
Glen Arbor. My own studio art practice continues
at a steady, persistent pace. I have two exhibitions
of quilts and small construc tions coming up this
spring and summer and my quilt, 'Circular
above, Members of the class of K'73 with the plaque the class donated to the new Girls
Middle school.